One Week on the Job: Observations of a Rookie NPC President

My first seven days as the National Press Club's 108th president were a whirlwind.

What have I seen and learned?

I see young people. I've known for years we have an active group of young members at the Club. But when I began working every day at the Club on Jan. 20, I realized the young members' presence was much larger than I thought. When I step out of the president's office, I frequently see young members taking advantage of the Club workspace. They talk on their phones and write on their laptops. Seeing them makes me feel like I'm in a newsroom, which of course I love. On Jan. 22, I met with the Young Members Committee to ask for their help on a project. There must have been 15-20 young members in attendance! This shows the Club's vitality and is a sign of our future success.

Multitasking is essential at NPC. At the same time I was speaking with the Young Members, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was the featured speaker at an event held by a college at the Club. In another room, 30 journalists were holding a farewell event for a highly-regarded colleague.

The world comes to our door. Our immediate past president, Myron Belkind, spoke fondly about the Club being an international center. Of course, he helped make it so. My first meeting Jan. 20, on my first day, was with representatives of a foreign nation who wanted to discuss the possibility of their president giving a major address at the Club. Two days later, the CEO of a media company in Bulgaria was thrilled to visit the Club. She bought numerous souvenirs, got a tour, posed for pictures and talked excitedly about coming back.

Press Freedom rocks. The first Club committee I met with as president was the Freedom of the Press Committee led by John Donnelly, a senior defense reporter with Congressional Quarterly. This is a group of reporters and press-freedom activists who are at the peak of their powers. They spoke enthusiastically at the meeting about their mission and what lies ahead. We talked about an idea to help them thrive even more. Then the next day, I attended an NPC Journalism Institute panel discussion that featured three of the committee members. It was a riveting discussion on the balance of national security and press freedom. You can read about that panel here.

This is where news happens. At my inaugural on Jan. 24, I showed the audience pictures of some giants who have spoken at the Club -- FDR, JFK, MLK, Ali, Reagan, Mandela. It wasn't lost on me, or others watching, that one of the audience members looking at the pictures is a giant in his own right, Michael R. Bloomberg. I am fortunate to be in my 15th year working at his company. That Mike Bloomberg made time to travel to the Club on a Saturday evening to give a funny, interesting keynote at the NPC inaugural says so much about him and his priorities. You can see his full speech here.

What will the second week be like?